One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Sumter you can determine when it's possible to plant oenothera by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Oenothera

Frost tolerance for oenothera:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since oenothera are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant oenothera in Sumter is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant oenothera and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your oenothera may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your oenothera indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Sumter. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sumter and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sumter it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your oenothera in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sumter

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Sumter

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sumter.